The world around me feels lighter, and the unpleasant taste in my throat—the bitter blend of seaweed and hot sauce—has faded away.
The sharp crack of a slap against my opposite cheek jolts my head to the side, but somehow, my body remains upright. The softness of the cushion beneath me contrasts sharply with the bite of something pressing against my back, and the uncomfortable strain of my bound arms makes me groan.
“She’s up.” Now that I hear the voice, it clicks who the rough hands belong to; Archer. It wasn’t my mother slapping me. Could’ve fooled me, though. Godsdamn, he hit me like he hated me.
Heels click against the hollow floor, and I blink rapidly, trying to bring the world into focus. I know I’ve been out for at least a few days—my body aches as though I haven’t moved in some time. No spasms, no violent shakes until my death, just peaceful sleep. All of it spent with Kairhyse, and that’s the only place I want to go back to.
As Tali comes into view, I roll my head back, releasing a deep, annoyed breath.
“Morning.” My voice is rough, like sandpaper scraping against a chalkboard.
“Such a bad girl, Daughter.” She spreads my legs and comes to sit on her knees between them.
“Such a bitch, Mother.”
Releasing a cough, I try to shift, but my arms are completely bound behind my back. A sharp, searing pain radiates from the tip of my spine, all the way down to my tail, which I can sense is out. That means my Amoro has fully consumed me, and what Tali is looking at now is no longer the Mundane version of me, but that of my Demon.
“Leave us,” she barks, and three sets of feet exit the room.
I’ve not had the opportunity to really take in where they have me, but even just a quick scan shows it’s nothing much. What is a room on a boat, anyhow? White walls, wooden accents, blue dressings on the bed, and the brown leather sofa I’m sitting on. That’s about it.
When the door latches closed, she grabs my cheeks and directs me to look at her. “Why are you being so difficult?”
Rolling my eyes, I attempt a smile. “It’s pissing you off.”
“You’ll prolong your torture,” she murmurs, her long, black tongue slipping out of her mouth and crossing the space between us. After drawing a slow, agonizing line across my cheek, she begins to stand. She doesn’t go far, and straddles my hips. “I allowed you to have your fun. Now you will give me what you were brought here to give.”
“Allowed me?Pfft.” I laugh.
“Oh, but I did.” She sits down onto my lap and leans forward. “I may not have known you were out until you came to Eldritch, but between then and when I collected you, I allowed for your little tantrum.”
My nostrils flare. “Tantrum? You sent those assholes to kidnap me. Torture me. Rape me. I wouldn’t classify my actions on taking justice for myself atantrum.”
She sways her head from side to side, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. “Semantics. You had a fit. If you had just moved on, I don’t know if I would have ever known you were dug up until I was to come get you in a hundred years.”
Closing my eyes, I ask, “Why?”
“I’ve already gone over this with?—”
“Why did you have them do that to me? Why not justburyme?”
When I reopen to see her, she has a big smile on her face. “Well, your Amoro hadn’t shown itself, and while I’m not above just killing you, I had to give it the best chance I could to get what I needed.”
I shake my head. “Makes no sense. Why not just ask me to give you what you wanted? I was pliable, a child… I remember I would have doneanythingfor you.”
Her eyebrows drop, and as if ready to say ‘awe’, she places a hand onto her chest. The look is disgusting, and I want to tear her skin from her face, cut her lips off, and feed them to Sinnix.
“You would have said no.” Her words are sharp, and before I can even muster a response, she continues, “Someone who lives a life of luxury, untouched by the shadow of a traumatic past or the sting of true discomfort, doesn’t embrace change. They resist it.”
“I didn’t need to berapedto dislike change, Tali.” My words drip with venom, each one sharper than the last, but all it earns me is a soft, dismissive laugh from her.
“Take the Mundane species, shall we? They perceive themselves as superior in every way, even though they are the weakest. Their population is still smaller than the Dylox, yet they sit high atop their peaks, believing themselves rulers. Or so they think. Even though this world is in desperate need of repair, Mundanes have been handed every comfort to maintain that illusion of superiority. Consider the decree,‘Dylox are to coexist with the Mundanes as long as kept under control by State Rule.’Sidence, like the rest of the state, is ruled by the Hause’s—each serving a purpose to keep Mundanes in their bubble of comfort.
“They resist change because they don’t see the problem. Threaten their ‘good time’, andthatis when war begins.”
She pauses, giving the illusion that I might ask a question, though she knows I won’t. My silence is heavy, laced with disdain, but she doesn’t care. Tali thrives on these moments of control.
“You are the Mundane in this story,” she continues, her eyes piercing mine, unblinking. “If I had come to you and asked you to breed for me, you would have fought me. You would have resisted.”
